Sunday 24 September 2017--Budget airlines are changing the face of
international travel. Last year, when I had to rebook my trip across the pond
late, WOW provided a reasonably-priced alternative. I'd had some trepidations
about flying with them, having heard some uncomplimentary things, but in the end
I was perfectly happy to do without in-flight meals and entertainment.

This year, Norwegian Air initiated a direct flight from Bradley International
Airport, my local, to Edinburgh, one of a number of new transAtlantic routes
utilizing secondary US airports. That's a no-brainer for me, or would have
been, had not Marc, mon vieux ami de Québec, expressed interest in going to
Iceland. We've planned a two-week circuit of the Ring Road. And so it happens
today that Win is driving me to Framingham to catch the bus for Boston's
Logan Airport, where I will once again board a WOW flight for Keflavík. Marc
is departing concurrently from Montréal.

WOW will carry me onward to Edinburgh, where Ron will meet me for a loop
around Scotland. The centerpiece is three nights on the Isle of Iona. We'll
make the usual stops in Plockton, Fortrose, and Craigellachie, as well.

As I was thinking about a last few days somewhere to finish off my trip--
Amsterdam, maybe, or Seahouses, or both--I learned that the great
Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell would be touring at the time. The Theatre
By The Lake in Keswick, Cumbria, was the most attractive of several possible
venues. Win decided to join me for that, and a jaunt of several days around
England's Lake District, before we return together on the Norwegian flight out
of Edinburgh. And so I, normally the solitary traveler, find that I will have
company along for all but four nights of a five-week journey, one friend in each
country I will visit, Iceland, Scotland, and England.

(Earlier this month, Bobby told me he was planning to go to Montréal to catch
a performance by a musician friend from Ireland, scheduled for last night. If I
hadn't already bought my airfare, I'd have planned to go with him, and fly out of
Montréal with Marc. It would have been nice to kick off my trip with an evening
there, with another friend in a fourth country.)